The General Classification (GC) Favorites: This starts and ends with two-time defending champion and three-time winner Alberto Contador. He changed teams from Astana to Saxo Bank and dragged with him three key teammates, who he'll rely on heavily in the mountain stages. Nothing about Contador's preparation for 2011 suggests he's not on form. He handily won the Grio d'Italia in May, which is typically not a good thing for someone looking to win the Tour. No rider has won the Giro/Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998. It's tough to pull off the Grand Tour double. Last year's Giro winner, Ivan Basso, finished nearly an hour behind Contador at the Tour. The 2009 Giro winner, Denis Menchov, placed 51st at the 2009 Tour. Contador is a fairly polarizing figure in cycling. Doping allegations continue to dog him. He tested positive for banned anabolic agent clenbutirol during the 2010 Tour -- Contador claims to have eaten contaminated beef resulting in the positive test result. Whatever the case, he was cleared by the Spanish cycling federation, but faces an appeal of that favorable decision in the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) one week after this year's Tour finishes. He also undermined Lance Armstrong's bid in his return to cycling in 2009 when they both rode for Astana. Last year, he pedaled away when the at-the-time race leader Andy Schleck dropped a chain. Taking advantage of another rider's mechanical issue is considered bad form in cycling. But there's no arguing that he's the best cyclist out there right now, having won the last three Tours de France he's started while being a career winner at the Giro, Tour and Vuelta Espana.
Andy Schleck of Team Leopard Trek. Schleck rode for Saxo Bank the last few seasons, but is now part of a new start up based in his home country of Luxembourg. The team includes many Saxo defectors, including brother Frank Schleck, time-trial specialist Fabian Cancellara and Jens Voigt. Schleck's every bit the climber that Contador is, but he's not good in the time trials. He's improving, but it's definitely an Achilles' heel. He hasn't looked very good leading up to the Tour. He was not on form at the Amgen Tour of California and was surprisingly dropped from a few climbs at the Tour de Suisse. He came back and had a good ride on one climb in Switzerland, taking second overall on the stage and claiming to show his critics that he was still a factor for the Tour.
Cadel Evans of BMC Racing. For years, Evans has been a top contender but toiled for teams that weren't overly strong and was racing against Armstrong. BMC has surrounded him with better support, but he's racing against Contador. He's had a strong showing so far this season with wins in the Tirreno Adriatico and Tour de Romandie, as well as a second place finish at the Criterium du Dauphine.
Ivan Basso of Liquigas. Basso skipped the Giro this year to focus on the Tour, but had a training crash on Mount Etna (Italy) in May, which preceded his poor showing (26th) at the Criterium du Dauphine. He acknowledged the crash hurt his prep for the Dauphine, but insists he's on form for the Tour.
Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky. Wiggins will attempt to parlay his win at the Criterium du Dauphine to success at the Tour. It was an impressive performance for Wiggins and Team Sky at the Dauphine, an eight-day stage race through the Alps. It's a relatively new team which has never been put in the position of defending an overall race leader in decisive mountain stages. Wiggins only recently became a factor in the climbs, something that's going to need to continue if he wants a podium finish in Paris. He finished 24th at last year's Tour after a surprising 4th place finish in 2009.
Jurgen Van den Broeck of Omega Pharma-Lotto. Van den Broeck finished fifth at last year's Tour and was fourth at the Dauphine in 2011 and 2010. However, he won his first stage in a professional bike race in this season's Dauphine, finishing first on a climb on the race's first stage. That breakthrough gives the Belgian confidence heading into France. Though the team isn't very strong and a poor effort in the Team Time Trial on Day 2 could set him back.
Robert Gesink of Rabobank. Gesink finished 6th in last year's Tour while sharing the team leader role with Denis Menchov. A year later, Menchov is gone and Rabobank management is throwing its full weight behind Gesink, who was encouraged by a couple of top-three finishes at the Dauphine despite finishing 20th overall. He won the Tour of Oman earlier in the year and has generally looked to be in good form. Like many of the contenders, much depends on well Gesink performs in the individual time trial.
Samuel Sanchez of Euskatel-Euskadi. Sanchez finished fourth last year and is targeting a podium finish and a stage win for 2011.
Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner, Andreas Kloeden, Janez Brajkovic of Radio Shack. Radio Shack has four riders who could emerge as a general classification contender. Leipheimer claimed the Tour de Suisse with a last-day individual time trial performance to knock Damiano Cunego off the top step of the podium. Horner, at age 39, won the Tour of California with Leipheimer playing dutiful lieutenant. Kloeden was the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. And Brajkovic claimed the 2010 Dauphine, beating Contador. We won't know who the GC leader will be until we get to the mountains.
Ryder Hesjedal and Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Cervelo. Hesjedal surprised with a seventh-place finish at the Tour in 2010 and became the team leader when Vande Velde was hurt on the second stage. Much like Radio Shack, the GC leader won't emerge until we see a few climbing stages in the second week of the Tour.
The Race: Try not to get too caught up in who's wearing yellow during the first week. Most of the GC contenders are content to sit back in the pack and let others grab the glory. The stages are mostly flat and these are days for the sprinters. The first day features a moderate climb at the finish, which will fit Thor Hushovd (Garmin Cervelo) nicely. The Team Time Trial (TTT) on Day 2 will throw a new wrinkle into who wears yellow early on, but we'll eventually see a lesser known emerge in yellow that first week. The big GC contenders will wait to exert their influence until the race meets the high mountains in the second and third weeks.
Highlight Climbs: 2011 is the 100th year anniversary of the introduction of the Col du Galibier. The Tour loves to celebrate their mountains and the organizers have the riders ascending the Galibier twice. It will be a summit finish atop the Galibier in Stage 18, and then one day later the riders will climb the Galibier in the other direction during Stage 19 on the way to a summit finish atop Alpe d'Huez. That will be a stage not to miss as Alpe d'Huez is the holy land of cycling. The crazies will be out on the sides of the roads, for sure.
The Jerseys: You probably know all about the yellow jersey. It's worn by the current leader of the race. If you're in yellow, it is the responsibility of your team to protect it. That typically means leading the peloton and expending much energy. This is why the big GC favorites don't want to wear yellow too early. They don't want their teammates taxed out before hitting the high mountains.
Green is the color of the leading sprinter. Tour organizers have changed up how the sprinter points are awarded to the fastest riders and the amount of points will vary depending on the stage's profile (flat, medium mountains or high mountains). Points are awarded to the top 15 riders at one intermediate point in the stage and at the finish line. The big names you'll hear about here are Mark Cavendish (HTC-High Road), Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo), Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) and Allessandro Petacchi (Lampre).
Polka Dot is the jersey worn by the King of the Mountains, the race's leading climber. Again, like they've done with the green jersey, Tour organizers have changed up the points system. Riders receive points depending on the level of a climb at intermediate points in a stage as well as summit finishes. Climbs are organized, in ascending order of difficulty: Category 4, Category 3, Category 2, Category 1 and Hors Category (HC). Under the new points system, the King of the Mountains will wind up being one of the big GC favorites, such as Contador or Andy Schleck.
White is the color of the jersey worn by the race's best young rider. A young rider is defined as someone less than 25 years of age. It's based entirely on accumulated time.